Top 20 of 2009: 20-11

Yeah, I know we're already half a month into 2010 but that's given me ample time to reflect upon the bounty of musical riches that 2009 gave us. This list went through a lot of editing and reflection to get to it's present form and I hope readers get something out of it.

20. Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
Was it really three years ago already that Candlemass announced Solitude Aeturnus vocalist Robert Lowe would be joining their ranks? In that time the band has toured the world (including the U.S. for the first time in seventeen years), put out an EP and this confident, eight-song full-length release. The music is aggressive, dark and intense, probably some of the strongest material this band has ever put out. DMD also finds Lowe coming into his own as Candlemass' mouthpiece, delivering an assured, malevolent and confident vocal performance that outshines 2007's King of the Grey Islands.

Recommended Tracks: Demon of the Deep, House of 1000 Voices, Hammer of Doom

19. Big Business - Mind the Drift
These guys are busy, between touring with the Melvins and as themselves it's a wonder they have any time to write and record new Big Business material. it's a good thing they do, because this record has some of the best material the band has ever written. With the addition of Toshi as a full-time guitarist (rather than just a live player), BB has the opportunity to explore all sorts of textural nuances they never could have otherwise in a duo context. Rather than just play rhythm, Toshi plays screaming lead licks and textures that compliment the already massive wall of distorted bass.

Recommended Tracks: Cats, Mice, The Drift, Theme From Big Business II

18. Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium

As a Wino fan, I bought all of the Hidden Hand's material despite my reservations about its' quality and the horrific vocals of bassist Bruce Falkinburg. I was kinda relieved when the band broke up, knowing that whatever project Mr. Weinrich took part in next would probably have less grating vocal stylings. Lo and behold I was right! January 2009 brought us this colossal gem, an album Wino has been waiting his entire career to unleash on the unsuspecting masses. A lot of why this album works has to do with the fantastic rhythm section of Clutch's Jean-Paul Gaster and Joe Blank (RIP), whose drum and bass stylings add a loose, funky classic rock groove to the proceedings. And those riffs! It's refreshing to hear Wino let rip as only he can, unfettered by the restrictions of a lesser band.

Recomended Tracks: Punctuated Equilibrium, The Woman in the Orange Pants, Secret Realm Devotion

17. Vektor - Black Future
For a great deal of 2007 and 2008 you couldn't swing a vintage pair of 1980s Converse Chuck Taylors without hitting someone holding a neo-thrash album. This cute trend, which attempts to emulate the sounds of such bands as Testament, DRI, old Slayer and Exodus, is full of seventeen-year-old losers writing songs about beating up poseurs, rocking out in the pit and wearing daddy's old patch jackets. Where bands like Municipal Waste were content to create their own visual aesthetic and sound based on the bygone era of eighties thrash, countless other bands swooped in to rip off classic artists in an attempt to cash in. This is not the case with Vektor. At first glance, their artwork (and logo!) paint them as nothing more than Voivod rip-off artists. Musically, this is not the case. Vektor, on their second album, whips together a frenzied cocktail of old Voivod, Coroner, Watchtower and Destruction into a potent blend of sonic destruction. Even the production sounds distinctly late eighties, whereas the music itself points squarely towards the future of the thrash genre.

Recommended Tracks: Black Future, Forests of Legend, Hunger For Violence, Accelerating Universe

16. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post PavillionThis is probably the prettiest sounding album on the list, and with damn good reason. It has hooks like a Japanese whaling boat that sink in and (unlike a ship used to kill innocent sea mammals) won't tear you apart. On this release, the band temporarily abandons some of their more experimental/avant-garde tendencies and makes a shimmering alt-pop masterpiece that leaves its sonic imprint on your brain long after the last listen.

Recommended Tracks: My Girls, Summertime Clothes, Lion in A Coma

15. Eagle Twin - The Unkindness of Crows
The twisted, drunken lovechild of Tom Waits and Scott Kelly has noisy baritone guitar intercourse with the heaviest-hitting drummer this side of Dale Crover. The music itself is dense, noisy, twisting and turning, piling Gentry Densley's whiskey-soaked blues baritone on top of some of the heaviest riffs to see release in 2009. These guys deliver live, too, a rare feat for a two-piece built upon such density.

Recommended Tracks: In The Beginning Was the Scream, Storytelling of Ravens, Crow Hymn

14. Converge - Axe to FallConverge take a step back from their brutal 2006 offering No Heroes and decide to paint outside the lines a little bit. This plays out like a combination of their last three efforts, taking the assured, confident songwriting of No Heroes, the dark experimentation of You Fail Me and the unbridled aggression of Jane Doe and combining them in one effort. Guitar solos and melodic vocals on a Converge album? Hell yes. Never worked better before.

Recommended Tracks: Dark Horse, Reap What You Sow, Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast, Cruel Bloom, Wishing Well

13. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and DimensionsSunn's new album is like the continuation of the steps made forward on Altar and Oracle. The addition of brass instruments and the continued contribution of Attila Csihar on vocals creates a dark, impenetrable atmosphere that envelops the listener. I'd also like to point out the fantastic artwork - this is a record to be experienced in full at 2 AM, under some otherworldly influences with the album art spread out in front of you.

12. Cable - The Failed Convict
A massively underrated band who's broken up countless times and should be as big as their contemporaries Coalesce and Isis, Cable reunited to play some shows in 2008 and then released this album in late August to almost nonexistent reception. This is a shame, because on their sixth full-length release Cable show a great deal of diversity. The Failed Convict is a concept album about, well, a convict. I won't spoil the story but needless to say, he isn't a very good convict. Luckily for us, the music is great, combining southern rock influences, noisy post-hardcore, sludge and other elements into a diverse and potent stew. And the gang vocals! Holy shit, the gang vocals.

Recommended Tracks: Be the Wolf (holy southern chain gang vocals, Batman!), The Smashing Machine, Men on Mountains, Running Out of Roads to Ride

11. Gnaw Their Tongues - All the Dread Magnificence of PerversityThis is one of those albums that made me feel like taking a shower after listening to it. It's kinda like the audio equivalent of Lars Von Trier's fantastic Antichrist. At first I felt as though I needed a really good reason to justify liking something like this. My familiarity with noise is very limited - I'm not quite sure at times how to judge the genre on its own merits beyond "this doesn't annoy me." The more I listen to this, the more I hear the various layers and sounds Mories has deliberately laid down for the listener to discover. The atmosphere is thick, disquieting and creates an aura of repulsion and sickness that few recordings managed to get across in 2009.

Coming soon: 10-1, Top Movies of 2009 and the Top Films of the Decade!!!!